Ceremony style has been a real focus in weddings this year, from gorgeous arches to stunning scenery, drapes to chandeliers, and everything in between. I’m so thrilled that ceremonies are finally getting the attention they deserve – after all, they should be the focal point of the day, and while extravagant decor must always take second place to the vows being exchanged, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to set the scene for full-blown romance! From boho to luxe, these were the ceremony setups we loved most this year.
Today we’re turning our attention to that most special time of a wedding day, the ceremony. I personally love it when a couple puts that extra attention and care into their ceremony style, because while it’s relatively short compared to the reception, the ceremony is where all the most important stuff happens, right? This year, each of these couples created something extra special – a dreamy, magical place where vows where exchanged and a new chapter was begun. And PS, if you’re looking for even more aisle style ideas, you can find them in our dedicated Pinterest board.
When I started researching ‘Industrial Chic’, which as you all know is our theme for April, one of the things I noticed is how many absolutely gorgeous ceremony spaces had been created and styled in areas that you might not have dreamed would be wedding appropriate. From factory corners to brick walls, staircases to windows and doorways, brides and grooms and stylists have been dreaming up installations and floral decorations and a million other ways to make those unassuming spaces special for the moment you say your ‘I do’s. And I couldn’t wait to round up 20 of my favourites. So here they are!
Last year was the first time we did a roundup specifically of aisle and ceremony decor, and I couldn’t be happier to include this category! These days it seems like there’s so much extra care and creativity given to the ceremony part of a wedding – which is just as it should be, because let’s be honest, this is THE MOMENT of the day. Whether it’s personalised signage or floral arches (oh, floral arches!!) or simply a stunning setting from church to forest to beach, it’s important to take some time to really think about the atmosphere you want to create for yourself as you walk down (or wait at the top of) the aisle. So let’s take a look at those wedding ceremonies that inspired us the most on SBB in 2015.
You know, sometimes on wedding blogs we get so caught up with the details of reception decor and dresses and colours, that the ceremony can get a little lost, but as we all know, that’s where the good stuff happens. That’s where you make the promises that will change your life in front of the people you love most in the world. After all, it’s the one part of a wedding day that you can’t do without! So I absolutely love when couples lavish the same sense of style and care on their ceremony that they do on the rest of their Big Day. Here are 15 of our aisle and ceremony decor favourites from the last year – sure to give you some inspiration!
With only four more weekends left before our wedding, and after having more than a year to get it done. I still don’t have an arch. Or I do, sort of – it’s just not able to stand upright yet.
I fell in love with ribbon arches when I first started planning the wedding, and it’s one of the first things I started to work on. Don’t be fooled by it’s simplistic nature, it was hard work gathering and wrapping all those ribbons! I changed my arch up a bit by also using a lot of lace with the ribbon, and I’m pretty happy with how it came out (who cares that I realised too late that its structure might not be wide enough, right?). Only problem that remains unsolved is HOW TO GET IT TO STAND UPRIGHT!
Hello lovelies! Sadly today is our last post from our Fairytale Bride, Stella (apart from her wedding, of course) – it’s been so fab following all of her posts and I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing her an amazing wedding day this weekend! We’ll be welcoming our next RLB this afternoon, so don’t miss that either :)
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Before I start writing about the joy we have found in creating our own ceremony, I wanted to mention that it is merely four days to go until we live happily ever after! My stomach is doing somersaults – the good kind – and my heart is slowly overflowing with love as we are welcoming all our family and friends to Cape Town at the moment. So many happy emotions… I am worried my heart may burst before the actual big day!
The ceremony. We’ve had an interesting experience with the planning of this one. Before having put much thought or much work into it, it felt more like a ‘task’ that had to be completed as part of the wedding planning – deciding on the what, the who and the how. As soon as we opened up to it though, and started getting into the beautiful details of readings, the choice of words and of course the music, it soon became the most magical part of all planning really. And I have a sly presumption that the ceremony may also just be my favourite part of the final big day, but that I will only be able to say in my next and final post.
Can you believe it, friends – our Ruby Bride’s wedding is coming up this weekend! How quickly did that go? So we’re having a whole afternoon with Jerusha on the blog this afternoon, before we send her off into married life with all of our love and best wishes!
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If we’re being perfectly honest, my fiancé and I are old people trapped in the bodies of twenty-somethings. We love a good old fashioned church service and would choose hymns written in the 1800s over pop music most days. When it came to choosing what our ceremony would look like, that was easy: a traditional church wedding complete with excerpts from the Church of England Prayer Book. It may seem old-school, but it’s meaningful to us and we figure that’s what it’s all about.
Many people are surprised to learn we’ve decided not to write our own vows either. It’s not because we don’t want to say things that are heartfelt and special to one another on the day (we do!) it’s just because we feel the “traditional” vows say things perfectly; much better than we could ever do anyway.
With a little less than two weeks to go till the BIG DAY, I must admit the nerves are starting to creep in. I thought I had everything so well organised and prepared that I would come home and just RELAX. Well that was an interesting plan… The little details are keeping me quite busy, but I am enjoying every day. The weather has been amazing, people have been amazing and this country is just amazing in general. I have also been completely spoilt by two kitchen teas and a super-duper bachelorettes with the coolest personal touches. So I’m having a rad time! I can’t believe the wedding is next weekend – every time that thought pops into my head, my heart makes a little jump and my stomach whirls with excitement. And nerves. But that’s what the rescue remedy is for, right? Now getting back to those formalities…
